Phillip Allgood
Police said an East Chattanooga man went into his ex-wife's home on Farleigh Street and rigged up an elaborate way to divert power to where he was living next door.
Phillip Allgood, 55, is charged with aggravated burglary and theft under $1,000.
Paula Allgood, who now lives in East Brainerd, said she went by her former home last Friday after noticing that her electric bill was high. She said she found that her ex-husband had broken into the house and diverted the power.
She said she found that several holes had been drilled in her interior walls, electrical wiring had been run through the holes, and it had been tapped into the electrical box.
A police officer noticed that the new wiring runs up a wall, across the ceiling, and down another wall into the breaker box. Wiring could be seen running from the interior of the home. Ms. Allgood picked up a red bucket that covered some wiring in the ground.
The wiring ran over a concrete curb that separates the house from the place next door where Allgood now lives.
Ms. Allgood said her ex-husband admitting stealing her power after she threatened to call police.
EPB officials said they could not disconnect the wiring from her breaker box because Allgood did not tap into the meter on the outside of the home.
City code officials advised Ms. Allgood to shut off power to the box until the issue is resolved.